College of Professional Education
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://hdl.handle.net/11274/9533
Browse
Browsing College of Professional Education by Author "Burkett, Jerry"
Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
- Results Per Page
- Sort Options
Item Campus administrators’ responses to Donald Trump’s immigration policy: Leadership during times of uncertainty(Hipatia Press, 2018) Burkett, Jerry; Hayes, SonyaDonald J. Trump was elected the 45th President of the United States in November 2016, after more than a year of campaigning on many major issues. Among the key issues presented during then-candidate Trump’s campaign was immigration reform. While Latinos make up the largest ethnic group of non-citizens in the U.S., most of these individuals have resided in the U.S. for a long period of time, have strong family ties, and have children who are lawful U.S. citizens (Baum, 2010; Almeida, Johnson, McNamara, & Gupta, 2011; Sharpless, 2017). The Trump administration’s early days involved a flurry of executive orders and other measures aimed at increasing the enforcement of immigration laws and blocking admission to the U.S. by individuals from specific countries. The purpose of this exploratory research study wasto interview principals who lead Hispanic-majority elementary, middle, and high schools to determine how students and school communities are reacting to President Trump’s current policy and rhetoric regarding immigration, and how these principals are responding to the students and communities they serve.Item Curriculum controversy: Supporting teacher candidates in understanding politically divisive education(Journal of Academic Perspectives, 2023) Burkett, JerryA suburb in north Texas recently made national news when residents elected a mayor, city council members, and school board members who spoke out against the local school district’s proposed Cultural Competence Action Plan. In this plan the district promised to emphasize cultural competence in curriculum, feature student assembly speakers specializing in cultural sensitivity and diversity, and to provide ongoing diversity training for all staff (Asmelash, 2021). Later that year, the state of Texas legislature enacted new restrictions on some types of diversity-related curricula and teacher training. Legislation has also been proposed at the federal level that would prevent federal funds from being used to teach from curricula deemed controversial (Cotton & Buck, 2021). Prospective and in-service teachers have likely seen headlines about the Critical Race Theory “battle” (Kingkade et al., 2021) and may seek professors of teacher education for guidance from their colleges or universities. It can be difficult for new teachers to navigate what could be classified by some as a divisive curriculum in their first-year in the classroom without the proper background, training, and information. It is important to explore these topics to provide an overview and background of the controversy, offer an explanation of concerns and questions parents may have about new curricula, and provide a perspective on advantages to covering racial issues in schools. This paper aims to provide an explanation for educators on some recent controversial conversations around curriculum and instruction in American schools.Item Defining principal effectiveness: Measuring the value of effective principals using the principal effectiveness evaluation rubric(IMRJ, 2023) Burkett, JerryThe evaluation of a campus principal can be a challenging process due largely to the complicated factors that exist to capture an accurate assessment of a principal’s leadership effectiveness. Generally, principal evaluations are conducted by districtlevel officials who often do not have the time or the resources to observe campus principals on a regular basis. Further, principal evaluation systems (PES) are designed to improve the practice of principals (Clifford & Ross, 2012; Davis, Kearney, Sanders, Thomas, & Leon, 2011; Fuller & Hollinsworth, 2014a; Fuller, et al., 2015), and there has historically been an acknowledgement that these evaluations do not always achieve this purpose. Therefore, the overarching purpose of an evaluation is to use defensible criteria to judge the worth or merit of a principal. Critical to this definition is “defensible criteria” as the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation (Gullickson & Howard, 2009) recommends that personnel evaluations should rely on defensible criteria to ensure such evaluations are “ethical, fair, useful, feasible, and accurate”. The Principal Effectiveness Evaluation Rubric is designed to evaluate the various themes found in the literature to help determine set criteria that is most used to measure principal effectiveness.Item Evaluating principal effectiveness: A review of the literature(Department of Educational Leadership, College of Education and Human Services at Lindenwood University, 2023) Burkett, JerryThe evaluation of a campus principal can be a challenging process due largely to the complicated factors that exist to capture an accurate assessment of a principal’s leadership effectiveness. Generally, principal evaluations are conducted by district-level officials who often do not have the time or the resources to observe campus principals on a regular basis. Further, principal evaluation systems (PES) are designed to improve the practice of principals (Clifford & Ross, 2012; Davis, Kearney, Sanders, Thomas, & Leon, 2011; Fuller & Hollingworth, 2014a; Fuller et al., 2015), and there has historically been an acknowledgment that these evaluations do not always achieve this purpose. Therefore, the overarching purpose of an evaluation is to use defensible criteria to judge the worth or merit of a principal. Critical to this definition is “defensible criteria” as the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation’s (Gullickson & Howard, 2009) recommends that personnel evaluations should rely on defensible criteria to ensure such evaluations are “ethical, fair, useful, feasible, and accurate” (p. 1). The purpose of this literature review is to evaluate the proposed themes found in principal evaluation systems to help determine set criteria that is most used to measure principal effectiveness.Item Ineffective campus leadership: Why good teachers leave bad principals(Journal of Academic Perspectives, 2020) Burkett, JerryEffective school leaders are essential to the success of the school environment. Preparation programs teach principals traits and skills that define what research has determined to be effective school leadership. However, either by attrition or through a lack of personal awareness, some principals may lose or under-develop these essential traits and then knowingly or unknowingly employ ineffective leadership skills and create dysfunction. Teachers have left schools due to poor and ineffective campus leadership but often do not report the reasons why they left or do not have a safety mechanism in place to support their claims and drive campus change. The purpose of this exploratory research was to survey teachers who have left school with poor campus leadership and determine the traits thatItem Pandemic policy preparedness: Unintentional student discrimination in the wake of COVID-19(Texas Council of Professors of Educational Administration, 2020) Burkett, Jerry; Reynolds, DanielleEducational leadership requires a set of skills and practices that are shaped by professional ethics. Professional ethics are the dynamics of both personal and professional ethics and requires educational leaders to understand how these ethical codes drive interactions and decisions especially in difficult situations (Shapiro & Stefkovich, 2016). Anderson (2014) argues that educational leaders may not have the deeper understanding of social justice necessary to “better scholarship, but also to better practice” (pp. x) due to the current expectations of leaders including increasing test scores and accountability ratings and addressing social and emotional learning. Adding to the current expectations of school leaders are unparalleled situations such as Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), a fast spreading, communicable disease. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic and with growing cases in the United States, unprecedented closures resulted. The U. S. Department of Education (2020) communicated that even during this time, districts must be “mindful of the requirements of Section 504, Title II, and Title VI, to ensure that all students are able to study and learn in an environment that is safe and free from discrimination” (p. 1). Legislative policy is also enacted as a result of the health crisis. On March 27, 2020, the United States Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act which provides an economic relief plan and educational provisions for public and private schools. Indefinite school closures have left some school districts unprepared to manage the necessary provisions to provide an equitable education for all students. As learning hubs were launched for at-home learning guided by parents and students, accommodations for English Learners (EL), students with disabilities, and students receiving Special Education services were not on the forefront of the design in every district, potentially providing larger gaps in learning. The launch of online at-home learning also requires internet access and devices to even access the learning, providing another potential inequitable gap, especially in low socioeconomic households. This necessary response to COVID-19 placed a burden on parents who may be working from home, or not at home, or not capable of assisting with the level of instruction their child requires to replace the daily instruction of a classroom teacher. The purpose of this paper will be to evaluate State of Texas local school board policies FB (LEGAL) and FB (Local) Equal Education Opportunity in the wake of the World Health Organization declaration of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a pandemic and the resulting actions of school closures. We will investigate the potential discrimination under Section 504, Title II, and Title VI during an unprecedented time of transitioning from learning at school to learning at home is reasonable to ensure that educational opportunities are equitable. The need to understand how such a pandemic closure impacts the teaching and learning of all students is essential to policy change for educational leaders in the way of a new reality of learning and lesson delivery during a time of a global pandemic.Item Podcasting professor: Quick, concise, and creative teaching(Magna Publications, 2023) Burkett, JerryUsing podcasts as a medium to deliver lectures can be an engaging and convenient method to connect with students. There are currently over 75 million podcast listeners in the United States with that number expected to reach 100 million by 2024 (Adams, et al., 2021). My own experience using this method to reach my students has been successful and the student response has been welcoming. The COVID-19 pandemic offered an opportunity to explore this method of teaching and reach students in a new and engaging way.